Stackable plastic container



Dec. 23, 1969 H. R. HAWLEY 3,485,412

STACKABLE PLASTIC CONTAINER Original Filed March 11, 1966 F l G. 4.

f l2 I3 INVENTOR HARRY R. HAWLEY vauw ATTORNEY 3,485,412 STACKABLEPLASTIC CONTAINER Harry R. Hawley, Lombard, Ill., assignor, by mesneassignments, to American Can Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation ofNew Jersey Continuation of application Ser. No. 533,594, Mar. 11, 1966.This application Aug. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 757,215

Int. Cl. B65d 21/02 US. Cl. 220--97 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREAn integrally formed plastic cup wherein axially spaced upper and lowerstacking rings in the cup side wall cooperate so that a plurality ofcups may be readily stacked without jamming.

This application is a continuation of applieants application Ser. No.533,594, filed Mar. 11, 1966, now abandoned.

When a large number of cups are nested together to form a relativelytall stack which will ultimately be dispensed one at a time, the Weightbeing supported by the stacking means of the bottom cup is relativelygreat and it is therefore important that the stacking means hesufficiently rigid and stiff to support this weight without causingjamming between adjacent cups. The thin walled plastic materialpresently in use in the drinking cup industry is relatively pliable andresilient, as has been brought out in Edwards Patent No. 3,139,213. Ihave found, however, that this resiliency and yieldability of the thinwalled plastic cup does not actually assist in preventing jamming underthe weight of a large number of cups but rather may even increase thejamming problem.

Objects of the invention It is therefore an object of this invention toprovide stacking ring means which will produce substantially rigid,positive inter-engagement between adjacent pairs of stacked cups toprevent jamming of one cup within the other and permit easy removal ofthe cups, one at a time, from the stack.

More specifically it is an object to provide an open top drinking cupintegrally formed from thin walled plastic material wherein theoutwardly extending stacking ring of the inner cup is provided with aradially outwardly extending circumferential stitfening bead around thecup wall which is adapted to engage the inwardly extending shoulder ofthe next adjacent lower cup stacked therein.

It is another specific object of the invention to provide a cup of thetype described wherein two axially spaced apart sets of stacking ringsare respectively provided on upper and lower portions of the side wallof each cup in order to provide two circumferential supporting areas foreach cup, one for supporting the lower portion of the cup and the otherfor supporting the upper portion of the cup.

These and other objects and advantages will more fully appear in thefollowing description made in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar partsthroughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing a pair of stacked cups with theouter cup being broken away,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modified stackingarrangement,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a pair of stacked cups withthe outer cup broken away and showing ICC the upper stacking ring meansfor both forms of the lnventlon,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a pair of stacked cups withthe outer cup broken away and showing the bottom stacking ring meansembodied in the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of one of the cups shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1 one embodiment of the invention is illustrated wherein asingle set of spaced stacking rings is provided in the upper portion ofeach cup. A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2.In both forms of the invention a tapered cup of thin walled thermoforming plastic material such as high impact polystyrene, rigidpolyvinyl chloride, linear polyethylene is illustrated.

In the first embodiment of the invention the tapered cup has a side wallW with a curled upper lip L surrounding the open top thereof. A cupbottom B is provided which in the form shown has a central. recess toinsure stability when placed on a table top and also to provideadditional stiifness for the bottom panel.

A set of circumferential stacking rings 9 and 10 is formed in the upperportion of the side wall W. At least one of said rings must becontinuous around the entire circumference of the cup. In the cupillustrated, the lower ring 10 is provided with an outwardly extendingbead or step 10a. The spaced rings 9 and 10 are connected by anintermediate support section 11 which is cylindrical or may be taperedvery slightly outwardly toward the top. In a plurality of stacked cupsthis intermediate section 11 serves to transfer the weight supported bythe upper ring 9 to the lower ring 10 except for the top and bottom cupsof the stack. The bead or step 10a provides circumferential stiffnessfor each of the rings 10 and said head also eliminates the necessity fora reverse taper in the intermediate support section 11, in order toprovide the radial offset required for stacking engagement between thelower ring 10 and the upper ring 9 of adjacent cups.

In the second embodiment of the invention an upper set of stacking rings9 and 10 is provided in the upper portion of the wall W of the cup CThese are identical to the rings 9 and 10 in the first embodimentdescribed above. In addition to the upper rings 9 and 10, a lower set ofstacking rings 12 and 13 is also provided. The lower ring 13 is providedwith a circumferential bead or step 13a which engages the inner portionof the upper ring 12 as best shown in FIG. 2, when adjacent cups arestacked together. The two sets of stacking rings provided in the secondembodiment of the invention cooperate to support the weight of the cupsstacked thereon and this materially reduces the weight carried by eachset and substantially eliminates any problems of jamming.

It will be seen that both forms of the invention provide a novel andhighly eflicient stacking structure without requiring the reverse taperpreviously used by many stacking cup designs and which providessubstantially increased stiffness to each set of stacking rings by meansof the outwardly projecting beads or steps.

I claim:

1. A thin walled plastic cup, comprising:

a tapered body having an integral bottom at the smaller end of said bodyand an annular brim surrounding the open opposite end;

axially spaced upper and lower peripheral stacking rings in the sidewall of said body;

an intermediate section in said side wall separating said upper andlower rings;

said lower stacking ring being provided with an outwardly extending beadhaving a diameter greater than the diameter of said intermediatesection; and

said upper stacking ring being a substantially horizontal shoulderhaving an outside diameter slightly greater than the outside diameter ofsaid lower stacking ring and adapted to support the bottom surface of alower stacking ring of a nested second cup.

2. The cup of claim 1 wherein said integral bottom has a flat bottomcentral recess therein to insure stability of said cup when placed on ahorizontal surface.

3. The cup of claim 1 wherein said intermediate section is cylindrical.

4. The cup of claim 1 wherein said intermediate section tapers slightlyoutwardly toward the open cu end.

5. The cup of claim 1 wherein said stacking rings, separated by saidintermediate section, are in the upper portion of said side wall.

6. The cup of claim 5 wherein a second pair of stacking rings, separatedby an intermediate section, are in the lower portion of said side wall,so that there is a minim-um of frictional engagement between the taperedUNITED STATES PATENTS 3,223,305 12/1965 Edwards. 3,288,340 11/1966Shapiro.

3,327,895 6/1967 Mueller.

3,347,411 10/1967 Kalata.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

